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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Initial Feedback: Home Court Magic Number Down to One

Initial feedback: A completely subjective and immediate response to the events of tonight's game, featuring a comment and rating, the latter on a scale of 1 to 10, on every player who saw the floor and the head coach, along with ephemera and miscellany as the author deems necessary.
Your ratings and commentary, dear reader, are welcomed in the comments to this post.

PlayersJoe Johnson: Joe had a team high 28 points and was 6-of-9 from 3 (including the incredibly lucky 31 foot bank shot as the shot clock expired). Absolutely lethal when left completely alone behind the arc and consistently made the Clippers pay for leaving him out there. His 7 rebounds helped lead the Hawks to a number of second chance points. 8/10

Josh Smith: Able to successfully attack the basket against Griffin, going for 18 and 10, but had trouble on the defensive side of the ball. Too many jump shots, but led the team in assists on a night where it seemed everyone was looking for the open man. 6/10

Jason Collins: Does give the Hawks a warm body that can commit personal fouls against the opponent's big men. 2/10

Kirk Hinrich: It'd be nice to say that it was Kirk's defense that helped hold Randy Foye scoreless, but it was probably more Griffin and Paul combining for 70 points and no one else doing much of anything offensively. Would be great if he could keep hitting from 3 at a 50% clip. 3/10

Jeff Teague: Teague's not as fast as Chris Paul, but he looked all pro compared to the effort Pargo gave. Really turned it on offensively at the end of the 3rd and during the 4th quarter which made up for his deficiencies defensively. Perfect from the line to guarantee the victory. 7/10

Marvin Williams: Marvin's still hot hand helped anchor the second unit that played perhaps a few minutes too many and kept the game interesting until the end. Even still, the reserves all finished in positive territory and played at least 19 minutes in a game that had the Hawks with a short bench. 5/10

Tracy McGrady: At times it would be nice to see TMac finish at the rim when he drives, but the respect he gets with that penetration leads to wide open jump shots by guys like Joe Johnson. 3/10

Willie Green: Got a friendly bounce off the rim on a first half three that later betrayed him when it rejected him on a breakaway dunk attempt. Had a quiet 9 points in his 19 minutes. 3/10

Jannero Pargo: Absolutely abused by Chris Paul, which happens to most second unit point guards. Would have helped if Pargo's jump shot was falling instead of him only making 1-of-7 from the floor including missing all four three point attempts. 1/10

Ivan Johnson: Ivan played decently on the defensive end against Griffin, but it was his two sick blocks and two monster put-back dunks that most stood out this game. Fun to dream of the days when Horford is back starting and Ivan can help anchor the second unit with Zaza. 4/10

The head coach In the second quarter it was the second unit that went on a run and got the Hawks a lead, as well as helped maintain that lead in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, in both instances Drew left them in a few minutes too long leading to runs by the Clippers putting the game in doubt.
4/10

A thought regarding the opposition Losing tonight cost the Clippers a shot at the Pacific Division crown, and now they need to win Wednesday in New York to guarantee home court advantage against Memphis.